1. Field
The present disclosure relates to beacon transmission in a wireless communication network, and in particular to beacon transmission in a wireless communication network which causes a wireless communication device to reselect a beacon-transmitting cell.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.
Generally, a wireless multiple-access communication system can simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless terminals. Each terminal communicates with one or more base stations via transmissions on one or more forward and reverse links. A forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the terminals, and a reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from the terminals to the base stations. These communication links may be established by a single-input-single-output (SISO), multiple-input-single-output (MISO), or a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) system.
To supplement conventional mobile phone network base stations, additional base stations may be deployed to provide more robust wireless coverage to mobile units. For example, wireless relay stations and small-coverage base stations (referred to as, e.g., access point base stations, Home NodeBs (HNBs), femto access points, or femto cells) may be deployed for incremental capacity growth, richer user experience, and in-building coverage. Typically, such small-coverage base stations are connected to the Internet and the mobile operator's network via DSL router or cable modem. As these other types of base stations may be added to the conventional mobile phone network (e.g., the backhaul) in a different manner than conventional base stations (e.g., macro base stations or Macro NodeBs (macro NBs)), there is a need for effective techniques for managing these other types of base stations and their associated user equipment.